Steelers take Illinois RB Mendenhall

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_564526.html

The Steelers selected Illinois junior running back Rashard Mendenhall with their first-round pick (23rd overall) in today's NFL draft. The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Mendenhall, who player for former Steelers special teams coach Ron Zook at Illinois, is the first running back taken by the Steelers with their first-round pick since Tim Worley in 1989. Mendenhall, the Big Ten Player of the Year, rushed for 1,681 yards and 17 touchdowns on 262 carries last season. Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert said Mendenhall was a player the Steelers had targeted.  "When we finalized our prep work in mid-week, we came up with a list of players we would not trade away from at (pick No.) 23," Colbert said. "He was one of those players."

Pens vs Rangers - Game 1 Friday Night

vs.

The schedule for Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs is out, it's Pens vs Rangers. Here are the dates and times:

Friday, April 25 7:00 PM Rangers at Pittsburgh VERSUS, CBC
Sunday, April 27 2:00 PM Rangers at Pittsburgh NBC, CBC
Tuesday, April 29 7:00 PM Pittsburgh at Rangers VERSUS, CBC
Thursday, May 1 7:00 PM Pittsburgh at Rangers VERSUS, CBC
*Sunday, May 4 2:00 PM Rangers at Pittsburgh NBC, CBC
*Monday, May 5 7:00 PM Pittsburgh at Rangers VERSUS, CBC
*Weds, May 7 TBD Rangers at Pittsburgh CBC

Primary Notes on Tuesday

Here are some things that are primarily on my mind today:

• Katie Couric is not long for her job. There were rumors she is already working to get out of it. Then comes word that the CBS Evening News registered its lowest alltime viewership numbers. Now the coup de gras: she can't spell Pittsburgh:
  

  Pittsburg Steelers fans are typically Clinton voters. Many are Catholics and blue-collar workers from central and western Pennsylvania. They want someone to fight for health care, but are more culturally conservative.

• Empty Netters asks, on this day of two game 7's: Beltway or Broadway? He chooses Beltway and so do we. For many reasons. One of which is I'm interested to see what innovation Leonsis and his lackeys come up with the prevent Pens fans from gobbling up tickets at the Verizon Center.
• Keep this in mind when watching tonight's games:
  
  • Pens are 3-0 in their history vs the Rangers (89, 92 & 96).
    
  • They are 6-1 vs the Caps. Winning in 91, 92, 95, 96, 2000 & 2001. Losing only in 1994.
• I usually love DK's coverage of the Bucs and his candid answers in his Q&A's, but in today's Q&A, he is wrong about two things:
  
  1. About Miserable Matt Morris (MMM), he writes:
     

     I am increasingly amused that there is such great angst over the Pirates wasting $10 million on an ineffective player, if only because that is $10 million out of ownership's pockets, $10 million that no one can chalk up to profit, which seems to me would be of great delight to a great faction of you.
     

     The angst began last summer when Littlefield made the trade to get Morris. It may go down as his worst move of his tenure and that in a very a crowded field. But DK has defended the move, first saying that if Morris could pitch as he did in the first half of 2007 he would be a good investment especially on a staff that is so young. This argument ignores the fact that MMM's performance at the start of last year was an extreme aberration to what has been a quick and steady decline in his performance. To gamble $10M on it continuing was stupid, as evidenced by the fact that no other team in baseball was willing to take it.
     
     Now DK claims that the $10M doesn't matter except to the Nutting's bottom line. Well, when we're told that the starting point with the team is a $50M payroll, it sure does matter that 20% of that is being eaten up by MMM. That's a big chunk that can't be used to get better players, this year or next, and the Nuttings aren't budging on how much they're going to spend. It's a stupid use of limited resources that no other team in baseball, even the ones with unlimited resources was willing to take, and that is why the people don't like MMM and want him gone. At this point, the money is spent - cut him and let's move on.
     
     
  2. In talking about player performance, DK states:
     

     At some point or other, it is incumbent upon the athlete to perform, to foster the winning environment, to put things together. These players, this group have been instructed, brought together, even bolstered a bit by acquisitions ... and things look different only in the sense that they actually look worse.

     Which raises the most important question the Pirates now must ask: Why is that?

     My problem with this is: it's not NOW that Pirate fans must ask this question, we have been asking this question for the last 15 years! Could be the new management, could be the players, could be the jinx of Big Jim Bibby, could be anything; and guess what? They've tried and we've seen everything tried over the last 15 years and NONE OF IT HAS WORKED! That is why Pirate fans are finally at their wit's end. I quibble with DK on this because I don't think he understands this point or at least seems to have forgotten it.
     
     I'm willing to give the new management team some time, like a season, to at least turn around the way this team plays or get rid of those who can't. But many aren't so willing.
     
     
• Santonio, Santonio. Yikes.
• If the Steelers draft a WR or RB in the first round, I am not going to be someone you want to be around Saturday night.
• Ed Bouchette thinks the Steelers "The Steelers would love to have [Chad Johnson], Cincy won't trade him here, though." Yikes! Those aren't your old time Steelers if that's true.
• Heard the pucker from NYC on the radio yesterday, still spouting about how "Pittsburgh is a diving factory". I'm not sure what he believes or not, but it is clear that he is setting the tone for the drivel that will come out of Madison Square Dump if the Pens and Rangers play. Already, the fans and talk show hosts are debating whether they want the Pens, who will get all the calls because they have Crosby and the NHL wants him to win, or the Canadiens. And many actually prefer the Canadiens because of this. While they admit somewhat to the "fact" that the NHL also wants the Rangers to win since they are from the biggest market, they think the league wants Crosby more and thus the refs will receive a directive from the league offices and order up 7-8 power plays per game for the Pens. Their thinking that whatever the preference of the Commish and his cronies want will wind up being the eventual outcome is laughable and is what passes for knowledgeable hockey talk on the airwaves. As if four straight Cup winners coming from the non-hotbeds and small market burgs of: Anaheim, Carolina, Tampa and East Rutherford, NJ didn't make this point loudly enough (and the fan's compliant has been going on for years, substitute a different team and player), then nothing will.
• Provided the Caps win tonight, the Rangers will easily be my most hated team left in the playoffs.
• This summer's irritating promotion from ESPN will surely be the Titletown competition, taking the crown from last summer's "Who's Next?" annoyance. But it has already given us all one great column from DJ Gallo that should be required reading for all Burgh fans. One fact he mentions is this:
  

  As for the Pirates, only the Yankees, Cardinals and Red Sox have more World Series championships than Pittsburgh's five.
  

  Amazing huh? Just keep that in mind when you get all depressed about the last 15 years. It is about time things change. Isn't it? Please make it change Mr. Huntington!!
  

Obama Tells Pittsburgh He's a Steelers Fan

Next week he becomes an Indianapolis Colts fan.

Pirate miscues in Sunday loss to Cubs

The Pirates lose and lose often. Many times, the single reason they lose a game is a hit or play by the other team. But to consistently lose like they've done for 15 years, they have to do things poorly all on their own. And they do that a lot, even if they don't all get mentioned in the paper the next day. Here is the list from one game:

Top of 1st
First two hitters get on. 3-4-5 hitters coming up. Great opportunity. Nope. Bay grounds into a DP and LaRoche continues his and our misery with a weak ground out.

Bottom of 1st
McLouth misses the cutoff man, run scored anyway. If ball was cutoff the runner was an easy out at second.

Bottom of 2nd
Cubs with runners at first and second, tapper back to Duke. Instead of throwing to second for an easy double play, Duke throws to third for the force and they only get one out. With the pitcher up next, a double play would likely have ended the inning.

Bottom of 4th
Noone in particular to blame on this play except that these things happen to the Bucs and other bad teams: man on first and a hard hit grounder right to the second baseman should be a double play. Except the Cubs put on the hit and run, the ball goes into right center, and the runner scores all the way from first. The hitter winds up on second. On what could have been a double play. Also, Duke has hit two batters in the inning.

Bottom of 5th
Immediately after the Bucs score 3, to make the score 5-3, Soto leads off with a single. Cedeno is up and squares to bunt, but the new pitcher Osoria instead throw 2 balls. With an 0-2 count, the Cubs take the bunt off and let Cedeno swing. He promptly doubles and Soto scores easily. The Bucs somehow let the Cubs score instead of getting an out. Next up is a pinch hitter for the pitcher and LaRoche commits an error allowing another run to score (this after LaRoche struck out with the bases loaded in the top of the 5th to end the inning). Batista then botches a ball that will go down as a single but could have been turned into an out. Then the Bucs luck out after Osoria cant catch a bunt and the ball caroms away. Doumit picks up the ball and for some reason, the runner on third stops and retreats to third, but Doumit throws him out. Almost out of the inning, but Sanchez throws a double play relay into the dirt and LaRoche can't scoop it allowing a run to score and the inning to continue. Again, no error but because the inning continues...Ramirez hits a 2-out, 2-run HR. 10-3 Cubs. Then Osoria picks up a swinging bunt that could have gone foul with no chance to throw out the hitter. At least that causes no damage as the next hitter flies out to end the misery.

Bottom of 6th
Marte is on to throw gas on the fire. He starts by walking the leadoff hitter. Then walks another before eventually Lee singles in two more. Ramirez singles in another. Nothing teh Bucs did wrong this inning except throw batting practice. 13 runs for the Cubs in two straight days. The game is over and not worth following anymore.

The Bucs will lose and a lot of it is due to the lack of a clutch hit, very poor pitching and continued shabby defense. That is what you will read about tomorrow in the papers - something along the lines of Duke not having his best stuff and continuing to get hit hard. Which is true, but as noted above, the Bucs made errors of many varieties in this game in virtually every inning the Cubs were hitting. These mistakes didn't explicitly lose the game today bu they are things that go on all the time that cause the Bucs to lose with stunning regularity and are the things that you would hope a new manager and management would focus on fixing. Fast.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now that they will and they'll still finish:

72-90

Ballpark Beer is Expensive and Low Alcohol

The San Diego Union Tribune wrote this story but it's surely true at most if not all stadiums, ballparks and arenas around the country. Just so you know what your $8.50 for a draft is getting you. Since most people won't know if their park is selling the low alcohol beer, the only answer is to only buy beer only from the can or bottle.

For it's 1, 2, 3.2 at the old ballgame

Three of San Diego's ballpark's domestic draft brands – Budweiser Select, Miller Lite and Miller Genuine Draft – contain 3.2 percent alcohol by weight. Go to a bar and most regular domestic draft beer will have about 4 percent alcohol by weight. Most light beers run about 3.4 percent.

Padres officials say lower-alcohol beer, like higher prices, is part of an “alcohol management plan,” meant to keep fans from overindulging. They also say it's common practice in the sports industry and hardly limited to Petco.

The 3.2 percent beer dates to Prohibition. Just before the booze ban was repealed in 1933, Congress allowed for 3.2 beer in an effort to jump-start the economy during the Depression and appease those clamoring for the right to imbibe. After the repeal, beer makers started producing stronger beers, but several states kept the 3.2 standard. Today, six – Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah – continue to require that some retailers, such as grocery stores, sell the lower-content product.

Beer lovers in those states routinely complain about the quality of the beer. [R2R: Similar to fans at ballparks]